Wooden hand rail and support

ABSTRACT

A hand rail assembly having a wood hand rail is supported on a plurality of brackets that can be premounted onto a wall. The brackets include a rail bolt threadable relative to the mounted portion of the bracket. The rail bolt has a T-shaped head that fits into a groove opening on the rail that opens to recessed groove portions. The heads of the rail bolts are arranged so that they are parallel to the groove opening, and then when the rail has been placed with the heads inside the groove opening, the rail bolts are rotated so the head fits into a recessed portions of the groove to hold the rail on the rail bolt. A nut is then used for clamping the head in position on the rail for mounting the rail securely. The rail bolt has flat spots so that a tool can be used to manipulate the rail bolt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a hand rail and support system including a wooden hand rail for stairs, with supports that permit installing the hand rail by one person, and mounting the wall brackets prior to installing the hand rail. The hand rail attachment does not require drilling holes through the rail, and it has no exposed fasteners.

[0002] The use of wooden hand rails is desirable for a professional finished look, but securing the hand rails to a wall has generally required holes drilled through the hand rails, or using screws. Exposed mounting bolts are also used, making it difficult to obtain a smooth attractive finish.

[0003] While various installation hardware has been advanced for hand rails, including wooden hand rails, there are problems with mounting, and ensuring that the random lengths of wood hand rails that are generally available can be installed easily. Usually the installation requires either a bracket being screwed into the hand rail itself, or drilling holes at the time of installation to mate the rail with a support bracket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to an easily installed bracket and hand rail assembly, that can be installed in a building under construction, or in a finished building easily by one person. The brackets can be installed before the walls are finished. The walls can subsequently be finished, around the brackets. The brackets also can be installed after wall finishing if desired. The wood hand rail can be put in place at any time subsequently with no problems with alignment or need for drilling holes.

[0005] The assembly includes a main bracket mounting bolt that supports a wooden decorative hub that is used at as a spacer for spacing the hand rail relative to a wall. The bracket support bolt can be attached to the wall in a suitable manner using toggle bolts and a backing channel. The bracket support bolt includes a head member that has a threaded central bore facing away from the wall, and into which bore a rail support bolt is mounted for holding the hand rail. The bracket support bolt has a T-shaped head that will slide into a slot in the hand rail. The slot is a rabbeted slot made with recessed edge portions so that after rotating the T-shaped head 90° the rail support is locked in position in the mating recessed portions of the slot in the handrail. The rail supports or brackets can be positioned at any position along the hand rail, so there is no problem with mating brackets that have been placed onto the hand rail with performed locations of the brackets on the wall.

[0006] The rail support bolt that is used has flattened spots so that it can be gripped with a wrench and tightened securely into the head of the bracket mounting bolt, and also then held while the T-shaped head is rotated and, subsequently, when the rail is clamped in place with a nut on the rail support bolt bearing on a clamp washer.

[0007] The mounting brackets are easily mounted, and easily made, so that a low cost installation is provided with the advantages of permitting differential expansion between the wall system and the hand rail, with little problem, and also the system will accept random lengths of wooden railing that is premanufactured.

[0008] The slot in the wooden hand rail that is provided for mounting the head of the rail support bolt, is also used for installing end caps or pieces on the hand rail itself, for decorative end finishes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a hand rail and installation bracket made according to the present invention with parts broken away;

[0010]FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken as on line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken as on line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

[0012]FIG. 4 is an exploded side view of the mounting assembly of FIG. 2;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a view taken as on line 5-5 in FIG. 2; and

[0014]FIG. 6 is a view taken along the same line as FIG. 5, with the hand rail broken away partially to show the positioning of a hand support bolt in a slot in the hand rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] In FIG. 1, a hand rail assembly indicated generally at 10 is mounted onto a wall 12 in a building, and includes a wooden hand rail 14, and a plurality of rail support bracket assemblies 16, which in FIG. 1 are shown with the hand rail broken away. The hand rail has an upper portion 18 for sliding along the hand, and a vertical panel or board 20 that is supported on the rail support brackets 16.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 2, one bracket 16 is illustrated, and it includes a main bracket mounting bolt 22 that is held onto the wall 12 in any desired manner such as with a nut, or as shown a toggle nut 24. A reinforcing channel 26 can be provided along the interior of the wall, or, if desired, the bracket mounting bolts can be put into the vertical studs for the wall.

[0017] The main bracket mounting bolt or stud 22 mounts through a hole 27 in the wall 12, and can have a suitable guide sleeve or other fitting device in the hole.

[0018] The bracket mounting bolt 22 has a head portion or head piece 28, that is slipped over the bracket mounting bolt and retained on the head 29. It is welded in place and the head piece 28 fits into a receptacle 30 on a wooden decorative hub 32 that mounts against the exterior surface 12A of the wall 12. This hub 32 is suitably formed, and has a generally elliptical base, and has a recess or receptacle 30 at its outer side for the head piece. The head piece 28 has an internal threaded bore 34, which is of size to receive a rail support bolt 36.

[0019] The rail support bolt 36 has a flat, T-shaped (at least a portion is eccentric) head 38 at its outer end, as can be seen in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, and a nut 40, and a washer or flange 42 placed onto the threaded portion of the rail support bolt.

[0020] The hand rail plank or board 20 has a longitudinally extending retainer slot 44 therein. The slot has a slot opening portion 46, that extends longitudinally, and is a rabbet slot, with recessed side sections 48 that extend in opposite directions from the slot opening 46. The rabbet recessed sections 48 are rectangular, so that they will receive the ends of the T-head 38 of the rail bolt, and are of sufficient size so that the T-head section can be rotated from a position with the head length parallel to the slot opening 46 as shown in FIG. 5, to the retaining position with the ends of the head in the recessed sections 48 of the slot 44 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0021] The rail support bolt 36 has flat spots shown at 54 on the threaded portion, which permit placing a tool such as a wrench on the bolt, and either rotating the bolt to tighten it into the head piece 28, and also to make the final rotation for locking the T-shaped head of the rail support bolt 36 in the slot recessed sections 48. The bolt 36 can be held with a tool on the flat spots to keep it from rotating while tightening the nut 40 and the flange or washer 42 to secure the T-shaped head 38 in the retainer slot 44 in the hand rail, once the eccentric portions of the head 38 have been positioned in the recessed slot sections 48.

[0022] The hub 32 is held securely in position without mounting the rail in place, because the bracket bolt 22 can be tightened down securely and left in position with the hub 32 properly placed.

[0023] Then, when the hand rail 14 is to be installed, the rail support bolt 38 will be threaded into the head piece 28, and tightened down until the rail support bolt is nearly bottomed out in the head piece 28, and the length of the T-head 38 is generally parallel to the hand rail in its installed angle. Then the hand rail 14 can be placed over a number of the T-heads 38 that have been aligned down the wall at the proper height relative to the stairs. The hand rail can be slipped onto the heads 38, with the heads passing through the slot opening 46. Each of the rail support bolts 36 is rotated substantially 90 degrees to place the ends of heads 38 locked into the slot sections 48, as shown in FIG. 2. The rail support bolts are tightened to bottom out in the head piece. Then the rail support bolts are held with a wrench on the flat spots 54 and the nut 40 on each bolt is threaded to tighten the washer or flange 42 against the inside surface of the rail board 20.

[0024] The hand rail is thus installed easily and securely, with one person installation possible.

[0025] The beauty of finished wood is available in the hand rail without the disruption of screw holes, or bolt mounting holes, and without the problems with mounting where there are long mating parts affected by differential expansion because the hand rail can expand between the mountings with the rail bolt.

[0026] The problems with differential expansion many times occur where an aluminum channel is used for mounting a wooden insert for a finished look, since the aluminum channel and the wood expand at different rates.

[0027] It should also be noted that the hub 32 is not secured to the main bracket bolt 22, but the bracket bolt passes through a provided opening in the hub 32.

[0028] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hand rail assembly comprising a support bracket, and a hand rail mounted on the support bracket, the support bracket including a bracket bolt, said bracket bolt having a head piece and when secured positioning the head piece relative to a wall on which the rail is to be installed, a rail bolt threadably mounted in the head piece, said rail bolt having a head with an eccentric portion head being positionable in a slot in the hand rail in one position and being rotatable to a second position to move the eccentric portion of the head into a recessed portion of the slot to hold the head within the slot, and a retainer for clamping the eccentric portions of the head in the slot with the rail bolt in the second position.
 2. The hand rail assembly of claim 1, wherein said head piece of said bracket bolt is supported in a hub, said hub spacing the head piece outwardly from a surface of a wall on which the bracket bolt is installed.
 3. The hand rail assembly of claim 1, wherein said rail bolt has flat spots on a portion thereof accessible when the rail bolt is installed in the head piece for coupling a tool providing a driving force on the rail bolt.
 4. The hand rail assembly of claim 1, wherein said retainer comprises a nut threadably mounted on the rail bolt and threadable toward a hand rail in which the head is positioned.
 5. The hand rail assembly of claim 1, wherein said slot in said hand rail is a rabbet slot having an access opening and a recessed groove accessible from the access opening, the eccentric head of the rail bolt fitting into the access opening and thereafter the rail bolt being rotatable to its second position with a portion of the head in the recessed portion of the rabbet slot of the hand rail.
 6. A bracket assembly for mounting a hand rail having a rabbet groove with an access slot on one surface of the hand rail, said bracket comprising a bracket bolt, said bracket bolt supporting a head piece relative to a wall on which the bracket bolt is mounted, the head piece having an internal threaded bore, a rail bolt having a head with an eccentric head portion mounted on an outer end of the bracket bolt and threadable into the head piece.
 7. The bracket assembly of claim 6 wherein said rail bolt carries a nut and a flange member facing the head.
 8. The bracket of claim 6 wherein said eccentric head is a T-shaped head relative to a central axis of the rail bolt.
 9. The bracket of claim 6 wherein said rail bolt has flat spots that are substantially parallel on opposite sides of the rail bolt of size to receive a tool for providing a rotating torque on the rail bolt.
 10. The bracket of claim 6 including a hub for supporting the head piece of the bracket bolt spaced from a wall on which the bracket bolt is installed.
 11. A hand rail bracket kit comprising a bracket bolt securable to a wall, a hub having a bore through which the bracket bolt extends, said bracket bolt having a head piece supportable in the hub, said head piece having a threadable interior bore concentric with the bracket bolt, a rail bolt threadable into the head piece, said rail bolt having a T-shaped head with head end portions extending in opposite directions from a central axis of the rail bolt, and the rail bolt having flat spots thereon for receiving a tool for providing a torque on the rail bolt for tightening it into the head piece and for holding the rail bolt from rotation when desired.
 12. The kit of claim 11 including a nut and a flange washer mountable on the rail bolt the nut being threadable toward the washer and the T-shaped head.
 13. The bracket of claim 12 including a retainer nut for the bracket bolt for securing the bracket bolt to a wall.
 14. A method of installing a railing to a wall comprising a bracket assembly and a hand rail, said hand rail being made of wood, and having a longitudinally extending rabbet groove therein, said rabbet groove having recessed portions that are on at least one side of an opening groove open to a surface of the rail, and a bracket that mounts to a wall, including mounting a plurality of brackets on the wall along a desired line for supporting the rail; placing a rail bolt with an eccentric head of the rail bolt generally parallel to the opening groove of the hand rail on each of a plurality of brackets mounting the rail on rail bolts on the plurality of brackets, rotating each rail bolt such that an eccentric portion of the eccentric head is in a recessed portion of the rabbet groove of the hand rail, and clamping the eccentric portion of the head to surfaces of the recessed portion of the rabbet groove. 